We arrived here at about 2 pm on Tuesday, after a flight of an hour and fifteen minutes from Brisbane. It sounds as though we left Brisbane at the right time because it’s been continuous thunder storms with all sorts of devastation and flooding over the last few days. When we called at John’s on Monday they told us about a terrible storm on Sunday night that had resulted in a 16 hour break in the electricity supply. According to the TV news it was the worst storm in Brisbane for 25 years.
We’re staying in a small hotel in Potts Point, a couple of miles east of the centre of the city. Originally Victorian, the area is quite vibrant with lots of restaurants, bars and small delis. It looks like a district that’s becoming quite prosperous after a chequered past! Just up the road is Kings Cross (many of the place names have copied London – Hyde Park, Paddington, Liverpool Street, Oxford Street) which could be described as the Soho of Sydney!
It’s a good looking city with lots of tall buildings but also lots of green spaces. On Wednesday we bought a 2 day pass on the City Sightseeing Tour which is one of those hop on – hop off buses. This enabled us to get our bearings and decide where we wanted to spend our time.
We started off with The Australia Museum, the country’s leading natural science museum, a superb place, well set out and full of interactive exhibits. Among its many sections is an excellent display of Australian Aborigine art and culture. It also contains some moving accounts of the Australian government’s misguided policy of forced integration which entailed taking Aborigine children from their parents at a few weeks old and placing them with European couples. This policy continued until the 1970s!
To get back to the hotel we walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens, about which Sue waxed lyrical! I was fascinated by the colony of flying foxes hanging from the trees. Apparently these fruit bats spend the day in the Botanical Gardens and at dusk fly across the city to spend the night feeding in the forest. They then fly back again at dawn. As we were eating dinner in a small pavement restaurant later in the evening we saw them fly over.
Yesterday we went to Bondi Beach and spent some time watching the surfers. It’s a beautiful beach with lots of surf but it’s not as big as I expected. There are some nice Art Deco buildings facing on to the sea but they house an undistinguished collection of souvenir shops and cafes. It was a bit of a disappointment.
Today we went up one of the granite pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge. From the top there are tremendous views of the city and the Opera House, as well as the surrounding countryside. We were lucky because it was a beautiful clear sunny day and we were able to get some excellent photos.
We’ve now more or less planned our remaining time in Sydney. We’ve arranged to meet our niece Bethany tomorrow for lunch. She’s a doctor and works at one of the big Sydney hospitals. Next week we’re going on a day trip to the Blue Mountains and we’re also off on another wine tour, this time to Hunter Valley!
We fly to Hong Kong on Friday.
3 comments:
Pleased that you met up with Bethany - she said it was lovely to see you both again. We really enjoyed the NSW Art museum in the Botanic Gardens. We are both impressed that you got a picture of the Spotted Catbird at Crater Lakes as it is so shy. Your pictures bring back so many good memories.
Pleased that you are still enjoying yourself. We went to see Philip and Sarah in Cheltenham this weekend. Had a great time but drove back home (after Bury St Edmunds) in snow, several inches of it. Very tricky driving. It will be gone by tomorrow, apprently, but they say we 'may' have repeat next weekend! Bet you are looking forward to it!
Darwin’s Answer to Foxhunting
Keith you know I’m not a superstitious man but you’ve got to get back. The worlds turned upside down! Firstly Wednesday announced they made a profit of £3.1 million – go figure. Next Charlton lose 5-2 at home to Sheffield Utd. and end up second from bottom of the Championship. Lastly Charlton sacked Pardew! I’m thinking along the lines of the butterfly principle that you and Sue leaving the Western Hemisphere has tipped things slightly off kilter and, let’s be frank, Charlton are suffering. I’m thinking that Hong Kong might do the trick – any chance of leaving Sydney early???
By the way Sydney looks great. Sorry Bondi was a disappointment, I guess once you’ve seen Lowestoft you’re spoilt for the rest. Anyway, must go as the Chancellor is about to give me shed loads of money and save the world.
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